The Space Between
by November Rain 19
Summary: Song fic. Sometimes to find love, we need to take a chance....even if we don't know what the outcome will be. Mimi/Sora. A gift for Hunter.


Author's Notes: It's been a while, but I think I've got this writer's block beat. This story was a request, which I was more than happy to oblige. Sora and Yamato are 20. Mimi is 19. 

Disclaimer: The song and Digimon don't belong to me. Imagine if they did.... (Be afraid, be very afraid.) 

Warning: My third shoujo-ai pairing (a Mira.) Let's deal with it constructively, shall we? 

Dedication: For Hunter, who writes like I wish I could.   


The Space Between   
by Melissa 

  
  


Someone once said that you should turn your face to the sunshine so you can never see the shadows. It's a nice piece of advice. Looking at the light life has to offer, so you can't see the darkness. There was something they didn't count on. 

You can get burned badly that way. 

_You cannot quit me so quickly_   
_Is no hope in you for me_   
_No corner you could squeeze me_   
_But I got all the time for you, love_   
_The Space Between_   
_The tears we cry_   
_Is the laughter keeps us coming back for more_   
_The Space Between_   
_The wicked lies we tell_   
_And hope to keep us safe from the pain_

I don't remember exactly when I started looking at her in a different light. It's like someone flicked a switch on somewhere and suddenly I see more than just my best friend. I believe, in my heart, that she is my soul mate. Whether I am hers is a different story entirely. 

The space between us seems so large sometimes. We're so different, but I think that's part of the reason we go together so well. Opposites attract, right? I remember when we were young and in the digital world for the first time. We were the only girls at the time. One was a tomboy and the other was a princess, practically from two different planets. 

And we've been together ever since. The absolute best of friends. I trust her with my life, as well as my secrets. 

Except for this one. 

Sometimes my eyes linger just a little too long on her beautiful form, or my thoughts wander into my own world as I listen to her soft, musical voice. It's like she puts me into a trance. 

I think she's noticed my actions sometimes. I usually brush it off, saying that I have a lot on my mind. Which is true, in a way, but I never tell her what I am really thinking about. Those wicked lies kill my soul a little each time I tell them. 

Part of me rationalizes that I should just let go of my feelings for her. If only it were that easy. I would wait forever, that's how much I love her. 

I have all the time in the world for her. 

_But will I hold you again?_   
_These fickle, fuddled words confuse me_   
_Like 'Will it rain today?'_   
_Waste the hours with talking, talking_   
_These twisted game we play_

As I lay on my bed, my thoughts are interrupted by a soft knock at my door. 

"Come in," I say as I shift to a sitting position. 

The object of my affection pokes her head through the crack in the doorway. Her smile radiant as always. 

It's like we're playing this twisted little game, but I'm the only one aware of it. 

And I'm losing. 

I force myself to smile. "Hey, Sora." 

"Hey yourself," she replies as she crosses the room and practically launches herself onto my bed. She lays on her stomach and hugs one of the pillows as she looks up at me. I feel myself falling into those bottomless pools of crimson, and I am helpless to stop it. 

A few moments of silence pass between us, being awkward only to me. I finally had to release the breath I was holding, before I pass out. 

"What brings you to my neck of the woods?" The words escape in a semi squeak. I clear my throat quickly to try and cover it up. 

"You've been kind of quiet and withdrawn lately, so I was wondering what's up." 

'Would you believe me if I told you?' I thought to myself. Out loud I said, "You know me...I'm just an the air head. I'm always spaced out." 

She gave me a reproachful look. "You are not an air head, Mimi, so don't ever say or think that." Sora placed her hand on my knee. The instant her cool skin came in contact with mine I felt a shiver run throughout my body. "Why won't you tell me what's really bothering you?" 

Damn her and her perceptiveness sometimes. 

"It's nothing, really," I say, avoiding her intense gaze. God, I don't think I could sound any less convincing if I tried. 

She arches a thin eyebrow, indicating that she does not believe me. I was never any good at lying, and she always seemed to know when I was being less than truthful. 

I took my gaze off of her and looked out the window. "Do you think it will rain today?" 

_We're strange allies_   
_With warring hearts_   
_What wild-eyed beast you be_   
_The Space Between_   
_The wicked lies we tell_   
_And hope to keep us safe from the pain_

She sighed. I think it's the most beautiful sound I'd ever heard. 

"Nice try, but trying to change the subject isn't going to work." 

I know I shouldn't lie to my best friend, but I'm just so damn afraid. Lies are most often born out of fear, after all. 

My heart wages this war with my mind. Tell her. Don't tell her. Tell her. Don't tell her. Back and forth again and again and again. It's like the proverbial angel on one shoulder and demon on the other. 

_Will I hold you again?_   
_Will I hold..._

Sora switches position so that she is now she is sitting beside me. Turning to face me, she puts her arms around me, holding me close. 

"You don't have to tell me, if you don't want to," she whispers, "but I'm worried about you. Please let me help." 

I feel my breath and voice catch in my throat. My thoughts and emotions are a confusing whirlpool, raging within my heart, mind and soul. 

Will I ever be able to hug her and not feel like crying? Those little tears of wanting and longing and pain that threaten to escape when ever I'm near her. 

_Look at us spinning out in_   
_The madness of a roller coaster_   
_You know you went off like a devil_   
_In a church in the middle of a crowded room_   
_All we can do, my love_   
_Is hope we don't take this ship down_

As much as I wanted to stay in that embrace forever, I slowly pulled away and stood up. I walked a few feet away before facing her once more. 

"Sora, what I have to tell you will not be easy for me to say and even harder for you to hear." 

She moved to the edge of the bed, her body tensed in anticipation. "Mimi, what ever it is, you can tell me." 

No more hiding. No more lying. I have to come clean, even if it will hurt me. Or her. 

I took a breath and looked her square in the eye. "I love you, Sora." 

"I love you too, Mimi. I don't understand what that has to do with anything." 

I smile for an instant, but it disappeared like a wisp of smoke from a snuffed out candle. And I was the one who was supposed to be the air head. 

"No," I said slowly, as if drawing it out would prevent the inevitable. "What I meant to say was that I'm _in_ love with you." 

She looked at me with what I can only describe as complete and utter confusion. 

She swallowed hard, blinking several times. "What?" 

I didn't reply, just stared pointedly at her. 

She shook her head violently and stood up, apparently intent on putting as much distance between us as possible. "Please tell me this is some kind of joke." Her voice was a mixture of pleading and fear. 

It was not the reaction I was hoping for, but it was also not unexpected. I watched as she began to pace back and forth like a caged animal, my heart breaking a little more with each step she took. 

"Not what you were expecting, was it?" I asked. 

She gave me a look that could've melted cold steel, and continued to pace. 

"Please," I pleaded. "Please say something." 

"What do you want me to say??" she asked forcefully. "That I'm okay with my best friend being in love with me?" 

"Would you have reacted the same if it was Yamato or Taichi telling you this instead of me?" 

"I don't know...." She ran both her hands through her hair, signaling she was confused and frustrated. Not that I blame her. 

I walked towards her. "Sora..." 

"No! Keep away from me!" She slipped past me and headed for the door. 

I reached out as she passed. As my hand came in contact with her shoulder she whirled, violently shaking off my touch. Her eyes were like molten fire. 

"Don't touch me. Don't talk to me. Just stay away from me." Her voice was a clipped and dangerous whisper. She walked out and slammed the door. 

_The Space Between_   
_Where you're smiling high_   
_Is where you'll find me if I get tickled_   
_The Space Between_   
_The bullets in our fire fight_   
_Is where I'll be hiding, waiting for you_

I left my house sometime after Sora had stormed out. I just kept walking. I probably would have run, but I simply did not have enough coordination for that. It took all of my energy just to put one foot in front of the other. I was physically and emotionally numb. 

When I finally looked up I was several blocks away, and ironically, in front of the house of my best guy friend. Walking up the steps, I knocked gently on the door. 

A few moments passed before someone came to the door. Lucky for me, it was Yamato. He smiled when he first saw me, but the smile vanished when he realized something was very wrong. He invited me in and we went into the living room. We took a seat on the couch and he watched me with his ice blue eyes. 

"Mimi, are you all right?" 

I shook my head. "I'm not even near the vicinity of all right," I said with a choked sob. 

"Something happened, didn't it?" Yamato had known for a while about my situation. Just as I have known about him being in a similar situation with Taichi. 

"Why?? Why did I have to be so stupid and tell her? I should have kept my mouth shut." 

He regarded me with sympathy. "And you would have ended up suffering in silence." 

"That would have been better than this." 

"I know you're hurting, Mimi, but at least this way you know for sure. This way you can move on, rather than wondering what might have been." 

I was trying, in vain, to blink back the hot tears continually forming at the corners of my eyes. "Why does Fate have to be so cruel to us? To let us fall in love with people who cannot love us back?" 

He slipped his arm around my shoulders, drawing me close. "We could spend the rest of this life debating Fate..." 

I snorted slightly, interrupting him. "The rest of this life? Is that how long this is going to hurt?" 

"It won't always hurt..." He didn't sound very convincing, not that I believed him anyway. 

"Yeah, it'll just leave a scar." I got up abruptly, unable to sit any longer. 

"Scars can be good sometimes though. She's not someone you would want to forget, is she?" 

"I would never want to forget her," I whispered, "but it looks like I'll have to." 

_The rain that falls_   
_Splash in your heart_   
_Ran like sadness down the window into..._   
_The Space Between_   
_Our wicked lies_   
_Is where we hope to keep safe from pain_

Sora could do nothing but stare at the window in her bedroom. It had just begun to rain. The little rivulets of water slid down the glass, which echoed the tears that fell from her eyes and down her cheeks. 

She hated herself in that moment, for what she said to Mimi. 

Her whole world had been turned upside down. She never would have expected in a million years that Mimi would have said what she did. A tiny part of her was elated when Mimi had said she loved her. 

That tiny part Sora had spent a long time ignoring, beating down, and burying deep inside of her. 

It wasn't until recently that she began to doubt everything. Sora had always found men attractive, but know she was finding it wasn't only the male gender that caught her eye. She had lied to herself, not wanting to believe that she was different. 

Sora was unsure as to what triggered it, but there was no denying it anymore. She liked women as well as men. 

And that scared her. 

It scared her so much that she blew up at her best friend, the one person who meant more to her than anything. 

'You have to fix this,' a voice inside her said. 'Or you will lose Mimi forever.' 

Sora blinked back the remainder of her tears. Not caring that it was still raining, she made her way towards the door. 

_Take my hand_   
_'Cause we're walking out of here_   
_Oh, right out of here_   
_Love is all we need here_   
_The Space Between_   
_What's wrong and right_   
_Is where you'll find me hiding, waiting for you_

I stepped outside of Yamato's house and opened my umbrella. As I started to walk home, I listened to the 'pit-pat' sounds of the rain drops falling. I had to focus on something other than the immense pain I felt in my heart. 

I didn't get very far when I saw a figure in the distance coming towards me. As it drew closer, I discovered that it was Sora. Part of me wanted to turn and run the other way, for fear that seeing that lovely face would make me lose what little control remained over my emotions. I couldn't seem to will my feet to turn around though. 

She drew closer to me, eventually stopping about three feet away. She was shivering, her arms wrapped tightly around her midsection. 

I'm not sure how long we stayed like that. I watched her closely, but she wouldn't bring her eyes to meet mine. She looked so scared. 

I rested my umbrella against my shoulder and took off my jacket. Crossing the space between us I slipped it around her shoulders, while my umbrella sheltered us from the assault from the rain drops. 

Water was streaming down her cheeks, but not from the rain. Her tears spoke the words her mouth could not say. At that moment I wrapped my arms around her in a hug. She slowly put her arms around my waist and held onto me as though I might disappear. 

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry...," she kept whispering over and over again. 

"Shhh. It's okay," I whispered back. I recalled something that my mother had told me a long time ago. Sometimes, the people we care most about end up hurting us. And we must forgive them for that. 

"It's not okay," she said between sniffles. "What I said before, I didn't mean any of it." 

I squeezed her a little harder as a heard those words. I didn't want to hope... 

It was at that moment that she lifted her head off of my shoulder and kissed me. I think my heart stopped at the pure unexpectedness of it. 

"That is what I wanted to say," she said as she broke the kiss. 

Now it was my turn to cry. It was not out of sadness or grief, but because I was overwhelmed with joy. 

_The Space Between_   
_Your heart and mine_   
_Is the space we'll fill with time_   
_The Space Between..._

I dropped my umbrella, caught in the embrace of my love. Both of us were alternating between laughing and crying. Nothing else was of any consequence, not even the weather. 

It didn't matter though, because the rain had finally stopped.   


The End   
  



End file.
